Machine for inserting a glass tube into a stopper



y 8, 1951 w. R. VREELAND 2,551,652

MACHINE FOR INSERTING A GLASS TUBE INTO A STOPPER Filed Feb. 21, 1950 "a l 27 2a 2 26 25 r l r/ s 1451.751? A. %myo wzw Patented May 8, 1951 r FFICE MACHINE FOR INSERTHNG A GLASS TUBE INTO A. STQIPPER Application February 21, 1950, Serial No. 145,513

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) 2 Claims.

The invention described. herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for governmental purposes without payment to me of any royalty thereon in accordance with the provisions of the act of April 30, 1928 (ch. 460, 45 Stat. 467) My invention relates to the insertion of glass tubing through perforations in rubber or cork stoppers and particularly to a machine for this purpose which eliminates hazard of a laboratory employee being accidentally cut by thebreaking of glass tubing when this is done manually by the method in common use in laboratories.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2, Fig. 1.

In these drawings:

A base is rigidly supports a lower frame member H which in turn supports an upper frame member 2 to which it is connected by a hinge it and a latching member Hi.

The member i2 has one or more laterally extending arms IE; it provided with a tube aligning passage ii for supporting tube is to which is clamped a stop collar H3 provided with a clamping thumb screw 28. A clamping screw chuck 2| is detachably secured to the tube 58 by a suitable set screw 22 while a suitable turning wheel 23 is detachably united to the tube 18 by a suitable keylock 243.

A base plate 25 provided with a plurality of tapered holes 26; 2'1; 28 for receiving perforated stoppers it is mounted to slide within suitable recess 30 in the base it. The glass tube 31 to be inserted in the stopper 2&3 is inserted through the tube i8 and clamped by means of the screw chuck 2!.

The operation of my device is as follows:

With my device arranged as shown in Figure 1, except for the omission of the glass tubing 31, with the screw chuck in releasing position:

A section of glass tubing is threaded through the tube i8 and chuck 2! until it rests upon the stopper 29. The chuck 2! may then be clamped around the tubing 3! and the stop collar thumb screw 2i] may be released. Then by applying pressure and rotary or oscillating motion through the turning wheel 23 the tubing may be safely forced through the perforation in the stopper 29 until the glass tubing extends a predetermined distance below the stopper 29 when the chuck 25 may be released to permit the withdrawal of the tubing 3! and the encircling stopper 29. After 2 the lower end of the glass tubing has cleared the base plate 25 the latch Id may be released and the upper frame member !2 may be swung on the hinge E3 to permit the withdrawal of the tubing 31 and surrounding stopper 29.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as possible in view of the prior art.

What I claim is:

1. A machine for inserting a tube through a hole in a stopper which includes a supporting frame having a laterally extending arm provided with a tube aligning passage parallel with the axis of said frame, a bifurcated base for said frame, a plate provided with a plurality of tapered apertures of different diameters, mounted in said bifurcated base, a supporting tube revolubly mounted in said passage of said frame, a stop collar provided with means for clamping it to said tube, and a glass tube clamping chuck rigidly secured to the lower end of said tube.

2. A machine for inserting a tube through a hole in a stopper which includes a supporting frame provided with two laterally extending arms each provided with passages having a common axis parallel with the axis of said frame, a hinged joint in said frame provided with a latch release, a base provided with guiding means for a sliding plate, a plate provided with a plurality of tapered apertures of different diameters adapted to slide into said guiding means of said base, a supporting tube revolubly mounted in said passages of said frame, a stop collar provided with means for clamping it to said tube, and a glass tube clamping chuck rigidly secured to the lower end of said tube.

WALTER R. VREELAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 259,892 Metten June 20, 1882 278,612 Sharp May 29, 1883 317,336 Glenn May 5, 1885 404,367 Stearns May 28, 1889 1,544,393 I-Iatcher June 30, 1925 2,510,878 Fairbairn June 6, 1950 

